In the novel, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, what is one technique that could be used to express innocence and friendship?

Literary techniques help writers explain their message and allow readers to understand, analyze, and draw their own conclusions. In The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, one literary technique that is used to reveal Bruno's innocence and the theme of friendship and which is crucial in the reader's understanding of the story, is inference. Two examples which occur throughout and which reveal Bruno's innocence are in his mispronunciation of "Out-With" and "The Fury." The reader is expected to know that these refer to Auschwitz and the fuhrer but Bruno has no idea of the importance of either. Bruno thinks that the Nazi salute he is expected to make is a greeting and is no more offensive than saying "have a pleasant afternoon," (chapter 5).

When Bruno describes the people in the "striped pajamas" as "extraordinary," the reader makes the connection between the significance of the title and what is about to unfold. Bruno will never know the cost of his friendship with Shmuel, even as he stands in what is apparently the gas chamber and holds hands with his "best friend(s) for life." Bruno thinks that the march and the dark room must have something to do with the poor weather conditions and "stopping people from catching colds" (chapter 19) because his father is the commandant and so Bruno's trust is unwavering and his innocence is unmistakable as he would never expect his father to be instrumental in anything as cruel and unnecessary. He may not understand his father but never doubts his intentions.